Bradley Bethel’s role as bystander to the fallout from the University of North Carolina academic/athletic scandal gave him a front row seat to the confusion, finger-pointing and trail of blame that has not found an end, even today. His friendship and work relationship with eventually-fired academic counselors Beth Bridger and Jamie Lee led him to make a documentary — Unverified: The Untold Story Behind the UNC Scandal — that he hoped would shed light on why his friends and colleagues sat at the heart of the scandal.

The documentary plays Friday evening at the Hannah S. Block Community Arts Center downtown as part of the annual Cape Fear Independent Film Festival. For more information or to get tickets, head to cfifn.org.

Bethel was good enough to have a phone interview this week, while feeding his new daughter. Multitasking, indeed.

How do you take something so broad and make it palatable for people to understand?

That was probably the biggest challenge making the film. We agonized over that. It went through several versions, because what we would do is come up with a rough cut and show it to people and get feedback, which is really helpful. That feedback helped us to see that we were going too much into details that weren’t helpful – or not enough to explain this point or that point. But eventually we got to a point where we had a film that was accessible and enjoyable and engaging. It was a human story, people who in my opinion who were scapegoated … It was really their story that I wanted to tell. And it was my story, too. Me trying to tell their story, in a sense.

By focusing on that human story we got to figure out when we needed to provide details, when we needed to back off a little bit and let the story tell itself. We were able to break it down into something.

What was the biggest surprise to you while making this?

The interview with (former chancellor James) Moeser was the biggest surprise. I walked away with so much admiration for him because he was willing to say some things no one else was willing to say. He articulated the problem so concisely, and to say that blew me away … It’s easier to go after low-level employees, than those higher up. And I thought, ‘Whoa.’ That’s what I’d been believing all along, I just didn’t expect someone at his level to say it.

(UNC journalism professor Adam Hochberg) he kinda kicked my ass in that interview. He forced me to think broader, I was so after the media that I wasn’t worried about the university as the whole. And then Wainstein. That was a real turning point in the process.

It was sort of an acceptance, that this is what happens. The powerful get to write the narrative; I’m glad the film can provide a counternarrative. The view of people at the bottom. To tell their story. The most affirming for me was hearing from several people in it, how happy they were, to finally see it on premier night and their story was told well. Having that out in the world, for people who really want to know and want a genuine understanding, they’ll see this film and … their perspective will be broader. That’s what attached me to documentary filmmaking. You can dig deep and see behind the headlines.

You came into this very critical of the media’s role in the firing of Bridger and Lee, but you seem to direct your focus in multiple directions by the end of the film. How could the media do this differently moving forward?

That’s tough. One one hand, I still hold that criticism of media cranking out stories so quickly without nuance I feel that should be there. Yet I’ve tempered some of that. I see there’s a pressure on journalists to do just that — to get the story out there, and it needs to be done right now. You have the pressure, you don’t have the time to do the research you need because you lose audience. … At the same time I just think that journalists need to keep in mind that commitment to verification. The difference between reporting and editorializing. There are many cases of subtle editorializing making its way into reports. Journalists have to do that better.

The biggest message for media consumers is that you have to be more critical. Have to be more critical of stories, ask questions, wonder if this is really the whole story – challenge journalists to dig deep. I realized that some of the criticism was too pointed … I was more antagonistic to the media than I should have been at times. I hope going forward I can keep that critical standpoint, be a critic that is actually engaging in a productive manner. If more people do that, we’ll be better as a society.

How much did the attitude in this state — you’re either for Carolina or you aren’t — affect you during and after the film was made?

That was one of the things that shocked me. From Ohio, I knew about rivalries with Ohio State and Michigan. But I was in no way prepared for the backlash I got from NC State people that just hate me. They harassed me on Twitter, talked on the message boards and all because they feel I was defending UNC. They want UNC to burn, or implode. They were anti-even seeing anything. They go after anyone they think is going for UNC. That was … strange, and unsettling and it takes a college rivalry to a new and unfortunate level. Someone could do a masters thesis on social media and message boards on this. The ABC crowd totally drove the interest; they were not the only factor, but locally, they were a major factor in driving this. They just can’t get enough.

(At the national level) We are witnessing significant reform in college athletics, or at least a movement for that. I really support that; there are serious problems in college athletics. I think the national press wanted an example case, and UNC appears to be the perfect example for why reform is needed. The story just seemed so easy and the case so easy to make, the press ran with it. That’s a big part of why we’ve had the narrative we’ve had (of athletic corruption). I offer a little different perspective here. Overlooked what I think is a serious problem, I think this scandal … is how prestigious research unviersities do not prioritize teaching qualities. (UNC department head Julius Nyang’oro) taught these for almost 20 years and got away with it. I think people should be outraged that the university was so neglectful of teaching qualities. It should be about teaching students and they weren’t paying attention. I wish as an educator that’s where the press media would have gone with this. But that’s not as sexy, honestly. That seems a boring story. But from a societal standpoint, we should care.

You relationship with Beth Bridger and Jamie Lee was the key to starting this in the first place. Do you all still stay in touch?

I see Jamie more often (in the Triangle, where the two live). But Beth and Jamie and I are still in touch and will continue to be.

(Note: Bridger had moved on to UNCW in early 2014 but was fired after the Wainstein Report was released in October of that year.) We couldn’t believe (Beth) got fired after Wainstein. She was at another campus. I’m still critical of both (universities) for doing it, but they’d been put in a position that if they didn’t fire her, they’d have received criticism for *not* firing her. I go back to what the Chancellor Moeser said: It’s an insitituional response to fire the people at the bottom. That’s just how it goes. …

That’s just how institutions of power are. Beth and Jamie didn’t even start working (at UNC) until 2006, and the paper classes started in 1993 –13 years before. They looked through the classes … They were doing everything they could to make sure student-athletes were getting something out of those classes. Kids testified to that. If you took it seriously, it might be even more tough than a regular class with that 20- to 25-page paper at the end. It’s just that they got fired, they’re low level employees. That’s what I hope people see. I don’t think people who read the stories understood who really took the blame for this. And I hope it challenges people to think more critically about other stories. What do I not know that might change my mind?

Submit Your Comments

Name

Required

Mail

Required, will not be published

Website

Comment

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

About This Blog

Howdy. I’m sports editor Dan Spears, and I keep everything straightened up around here — with thoughts on pretty much anything to do with sports, both locally and nationally. I’ve been with the StarNews since August 2006, and sports editor since September 2008. I’m a big college basketball fan and have been to the first weekend of the NCAAs every year since 1997, either as a fan or a writer. I attempt to play golf, run marathons and play volleyball here in town at Capt’n Bill’s on Market Street. Enjoy reading, and let me know what you’re thinking … Dan